(Reuters) – Startup Physical Intelligence, which develops core software for robots, said on Monday it has raised $400 million in early-stage funding from NASDAQ’s Jeff Bezos, OpenAI, venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Lux ​​KapitaÅ‚.
The fresh funds were raised at a valuation of $2 billion, according to PitchBook data.
Physical intelligence seeks to create software that would run on any robot, eliminating the need to create software for each specific task.
The largest technology companies – Microsoft (NASDAQ:), Google (NASDAQ:), Meta (NASDAQ:), Amazon and Nvidia (NASDAQ:) – are investing billions in implementing artificial intelligence. Funding for artificial intelligence and cloud companies in the U.S., Europe and Israel is expected to reach $79.2 billion by the end of 2024, according to venture capital firm Accel.
Many startups are entering the robotic AI space, including Vicarious, which was acquired by Alphabet-owned Intrinsic in 2022, Universal Robots, Seegrid, and Covariant.
Elon Musk previously said there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots by 2040, priced between $20,000 and $25,000. Tesla (NASDAQ:) also showed off the latest version of its Optimus humanoid robot during the Robotaxi showcase.
Last week, Physical Intelligence published a paper showing how its software, called π0, or pi-zero, enables robots to fold laundry, bag groceries, and remove toast from the toaster.
